Opera Software joins Symbian

Nokia's soon-to-be open source Symbian platform received a boost yesterday with the news that Opera Software is to join the Symbian Foundation.

As reported by CNet, Opera Software – best known for its popular PC web-browser and spinoff Java-based mobile browser – has opted to join forces with Nokia and the other Symbian Foundation members to help build its browser technologies into the mobile operating system.

Opera's chief executive, Jon von Tetzchner, spoke of his company's debt to Symbian yesterday: “Symbian was one of the first companies to support Opera's vision of how the Web one day would be available on any device. Today, that vision is becoming reality. We look forward to the opportunity to join the foundation and help drive the ongoing evolution of the leading mobile operating system.”

As an owner of a Symbian Series 60 smartphone myself, I have to admit that the Foundation can learn a lot from Opera's efforts in the mobile browser arena. While the web browser built in to the Symbian S60 OS is passable, there are many functions available through the use of the Java-based Opera Mini that make mobile browsing so much easier – not to mention better support for rich content and interactive sites. If the future of Symbian includes a native build of Opera Mini – or even its bigger brother, Opera Mobile – then the future could look bright for the open-source OS.

What do other Symbian users think – is the in-built browser good enough, or is the OS practically unusable until the Opera Mini browser is added? Share your thoughts over in the forums.